Display cap for pressurized container

ABSTRACT

Display cap for aerosol dispenser transverse channel with a hole in the channel bottom for receiving the push-button of the dispenser, and tear strip covering the channel.

United States Patent [191 Goncalves et a1.

Jan. 7, 1975 DISPLAY CAP FOR PRESSURIZED CONTAINER Inventors: Antonin Gonealves, Groslay; Michel Desruet, Paris, both of France Assignee: LOreal, Paris, France Filed: May 18, 1973 Appl. No.: 361,413

Foreign Application Priority Data May 31, 1972 France 72.19424 u.s. Cl. 222/153 Int. Cl B65d 47/10 Field of Search 222/153, 182, 451; 220/27,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,245,588 4/1966 Sagarin 222/182 3,263,868 8/1966 Sagarin 2 222/182 3,306,497 2/1967 Kenney et 2 222/182 3,512,682 5/1970 Hendrickson et a1 222/182 Primary Examiner-Stanley H. Tollberg Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Brisebois & Kruger [57] ABSTRACT Display cap for aerosol dispenser transverse channel with a hole in the channel bottom for receiving the push-button of the dispenser, and tear strip covering the channel.

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures DISPLAY CAP FOR PRESSURIZED CONTAINER SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general pressurized containers for storing various products such, for example, as cosmetic products or products for personal care are provided at their upper end with a sensing valve equipped with a push-button. When the push-button is depressed by the finger of the user the product is dispensed in the form of a foam or a fine jet. As is well known, the tops of pressurized containers are frequently equipped with display and dispensing caps surrounding and/or replacing the push button. Such a cap comprises a tongue against which the user presses to dispense the product. This tongue is protected or locked during storage and before use by sealing means which prevent dispensing until after the sealing means have been ruptured or removed. These sealing means arealso called safety strips.

The devices presently in use are relatively expensive because they require the molding of relatively complicated shapes from thermoplastic material.

It is the purpose of the present invention to provide a display cap adapted to be positioned at the top of a pressurized container around the push-button which is actuated to dispense the product. This cap is provided with sealing means but is nevertheless relatively inexpensive because of the simplicity of the manner in which it is manufactured by molding from thermoplastic material.

It is accordingly the object of the present invention to provide,.as a new article of manufacture, a display cap adapted to be positioned at the top of a pressurized container of the aerosol bomb type, which container comprises at its upper end a dispensing valve the outlet tube of which is equipped with a push-button. This cap is provided at its lower end with mounting means for positioning it with respect to the pressurized container and is characterized by the fact that it has in its upper end a channel median plane of which is substantially axial of the cap. This channel has a width substantially equal to the width of the finger of the user and comprises an orifice in its bottom for receiving at least the upper part of the push-button. The channel is closed at its top by sealing means attached to the lateral walls of the channel by weakened zones.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the channel in the cap is laterally defined by two walls parallel to the axis of the cap which are preferably flat and parallel to each other. The cap is bounded externally by a lateral cylindrical surface. When the cap is mounted in position on the pressurized container with which it cooperates the cap is coaxial with the pressurized container. The bottom of the channel in the cap is substantially perpendicular to the axis of the cap.

In a first embodiment of the invention, the sealing member at the top of the channel is U-shaped in section, the two arms of the U being substantially parallel to, the lateral walls of the channel and attached to these walls by their upper edges. The bottom of the U is substantially in contact with or in the neighborhood of the upper part of the pushbutton. The sealing means has a length substantially equal to the length of the channel. That is to say, when the cap is defined by a cylindrical surface and has a circular base, this length is substantially equal to the diameter of the cap.

In a second embodiment, the sealing means at the top of the channel in the cap is a substantially flat strip potitioned between the two lateral walls at the channel. At the end of these walls the strip preferably has one of its ends bent toward the lower part of the channel. The length of that part of the strip having its axis lying in the median plane of the channel is substantially equal to the length of the channel, that is to say, when the lateral surface of the cap is a cylindrical surface having a cir cular base it is substantially equal to the diameter of the cap.

In accordance with the invention, it is advantageous to use weakened zones which permit the attachment of the sealing strip to the lateral walls of the channel by using any appropriate conventional means, for example, by forming lines of very thin material in the neighborhood of the junction between the safety strip and the walls of the channel. The user may easily tear the material along these lines. Alternatively, it is possible to provide connecting pins which are spaced from each other and have a relatively small section so that they may easily be broken by the user at the moment he wats to utilize the pressurized container.

The means for attaching the cap according to the invention at its lower end may be of any type. A cap may be used in which the mounting means consists of a flange or rim at the lower part of a central cylinder, said flange snap-fitting onto a rim at the top of the pressurized container on which the cap is mounted. This latter rim may be one formed by crimping the cap of the container to the container wall or one which connects the lateral wall of the pressurized container to the frustoconical upper part of the container. In this case, the central cylinder which carries the mounting rim at its lower edge may be connected to the lower surface of the top of the cap and/or on the lower surface of the lower wall of the channel.

In order to fasten the cap on the pressurized container it is also possible to use the device described in French application Ser. No. 72-03048, filed Jan. 31, 1972. In this case the upper part of the lateral wall of the pressurized container is provided with a neck and the lower part of the cylindrical lateral surface of the cap is provided with a flange cooperating with this neck. The advantage of this method of attachment is that it is not necessary to provide a central mounting cylinder and this decreases the cost of manufacture of the cap according to the invention.

It will be appreciated that the cap according to the invention is exceedingly easy to mold because the channel in its upper part is easy to form in a molding process. It follows that the mold to be used is simple and relatively inexpensive. Moreover, the cap according to the invention, when equipped with its sealing strip, has a very attractive appearance. Finally, the cap according to the invention is adapted to be mounted on pressurized containers of a conventional type equipped with any type of push-button, since the provision of an appropriate orifice in the bottom of the channel in the cap makes this cap adaptable to any pressurized container.

When the sealing strip is U-shaped in section, it is not possible to operate the pressurized container without tearing this strip, since the presence of that part of the strip which rests on the upper surface of the pushbutton prevents any pressure on this upper surface. When a flat strip having a bent-back end is used, the

strip may be positioned at a distance from the upper surface of the push-button such that the user has access to only one side of the push-button. If the dispensing nozzle of the push-button is on the side which is bent down, fluid may be ejected by pressing on the pushbutton, but this only projects the product against the bent portion. If, on the contrary, the dispensing nozzle of the push-button is directed in the opposite direction, ejection takes place in the direction of the hand of the user who is operating the push-button. It follows that, in these two cases, pressure on the push-button cannot result in convenient use so long as the flat strip is in place. Such a device does not prevent emptying of the container but does prevent the convenient use of the container as long as the safety strip is positioned above the channel. It will be seen that the two types of sealing means provided in the two embodiments hereinbefore described both permit the desired results to be obtained. That is to say, they both prevent normal utilization of the pressurized container while that container is equipped with the sealing means.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide as a new article of manufacture, an assembly comprising a pressurized container and a display cap, which pressurized container carries at its upper end a dispensing valve equipped with a push-button, with the display cap surrounding at least part of the push-button, which assembly is characterized by the fact that the display cap is of the type hereinbefore defined.

In order that the invention may be better understood several embodiments thereof will now be described, purely by way of illustration and example, with reference to the accompanying drawings on which:

FIG. 1 is an'axial sectional view taken through the top of a pressurized container equipped with a cap according to the invention, with the sealing means in place;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the container and cap of FIG. lafter removal of the sealing means;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the detail surrounded by the circle A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an axial sectional view taken through a second embodiment of the cap according to the invention, in position on a pressurized container, and equipped with a sealing strip; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the sealing strip on the cap of FIG. 4.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1-3, it will be seen that reference numeral 1 indicates the pressurized container on which the cap according to the invention is mounted. The pressurized container 1 comprises in the upper part of its lateral wall a neck 2 produced as indicated in French application Ser. No. 72-03048, filed Jan. 31, I972. The cap according to the invention has a lateral cylindrical surface 3, the lower part of which terminates in a flange 4, which resiliently engages in the neck 2 to attach the cap to the upper part of the pressurized container 1.

The product stored in the container 1 is dispensed by means of a valve 5 positioned at the top of container 1 in the central part of a valve-carrying top 6. This top is attached to the lateral wall of the container 1 by an annular crimped joint 7. The valve 5 comprises an outlet tube which carries a push-button 8 which dispenses the product through a nozzle 9.

The lateral cylindrical wall 3 of the cap according to the invention terminates at its lower end in the flange 4 and at its upper end in a flat upper surface 10 perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical wall 3. A channel 11 is located in the upper part of the cap according to the invention. This channel has a U-shaped section and is laterally defined by two parallel walls 12. which are also parallel to the axis of the cap. The plane equidistant between the two lateral walls of the channel contains the axis of the lateral cylindrical surface 3 of the cap. I

The bottom of the channel consists of a flat surface 13 perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical surface 3. In the central part of the bottom 13 of channel 11 is an orifice 14 which admits the push-button 8 so that the spray nozzle 9 is above the level of the bottom 13.

The sealing strip which is associated with the cap which hasjust been described is strip 15 which has a U- shaped section. The bottom of the U rests on the top of the push-button 8 and the upper edges of the U are bent so as to lie substantially in the plane of the upper surface 10, to which they are connected along a thin line 16. A linear notch 17 in alignment with the thin line 16 separates the edge of the sealing strip and the lateral wall 12 of the channel 11, which are connected by the thin zone 16.

It will be seen that, in the embodiment which has just been described, the purchaser of the pressurized container is the beneficiary ofa guarantee which is certain, so long as the sealing strip 15 is positioned above the channel 12. In effect, in order for a user to be able to dispense the product, it is necessary to press on the push-button 8. However, this pressure is impossible to apply because of the presence of the stiff strip 15 which strip rests on the upper surface of the push-button 8. Of course, in order to use the aerosol dispenser without touching the strip 15, the cap may be completely removed by withdrawing the flange 4 from the neck 2. However, this operation is usually very difficult to carry out and it is also possible to provide at the level of the flange 4 a safety strip which must be ruptured if the flange is to be removed from the neck. It will thus be seen that the simplicity of the shape adapted for the cap according to the invention considerably decreases its cost of manufacture when it is molded from thermoplastic material.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the cap according to the invention. Reference numeral 23 indicates the lateral cylindrical surface of the cap. This lateral surface 23 extends to the top of a pressurized container 21. The container 21 carries at its upper end a valve carrying number 26 crimped to the lateral wall by an annular crimped joint 27 and carrying in its central zone a dispensing valve 25. The outlet tube of the valve 25 is provided with a push-button 28, in the lateral wall of which is mounted a nozzle 29. The cylinder which constitutes the lateral wall 23 of the cap according to the invention is a right circular cylinder, the diameter of which is substantially equal to the diameter of the lateral wall of the pressurized container 21. The cap according to the invention terminates at its upper end in a flat surface 30 and the upper part of the cap is provided with a channel defined by two lateral walls 32 and a bottom 33. The two lateral walls 32 are parallel to each other and to the axis of the cylindrical surface 23. The plane equidistant between the two walls 32 is an axial plane of the cylindrical surface 23. The bottom 33 of the channel is pierced by an orifice 34 which receives the push-button 28.

A central cylinder 40 having a substantially circular section is connected to the lower surface of the channel bottom 33. This cylinder 40 has at its lower end a mounting flange 41 which cooperates with the crimped joint 27 which is encircled by the lower part of the cylinder 40. The cooperation between the crimped joint 27 and the flange 41 attaches the cap according to the invention to the top of the pressurized container 21. The sealing strip 35 consists of a flat strip 42, one end 43 of which is bent down toward the bottom of the channel 43. The height of the bent down end 43 is less than the depth of the channel in the cap, that is to say, less than the distance which separates the bottom 33 from the upper surface 30 of the cap. The strip is connected to the upper edges of the lateral walls 32 by connecting pins 44. When the strip 35 is positioned above the channel as shown in FlG. 4, the user can introduce his finger into said channel from only one side. It follows that, regardless of the orientation of the nozzle of the push-button, projection of the products stored can take place only against the bent down tab 43, or against the lateral walls 32 of the channel, or in the direction of the hand of the user who is pressing on the push-button. It is thus impossible to use the pressurized container in a normal manner so long as the strip 35 is in position above the channel. In order to dispense in a normal manner, that is to say, in order to eject the product stored in a direction away from the hand of the user who is depressing the push-button, it is necessary for the user to tear away the strip 35 by rupturing the connecting pins 44. FIG. 5 shows in perspective such a strip 35 after it has been torn away.

It should be noted that, in this second embodiment, the attachment of the cap to the pressurized container requires the molding of a central cylinder which requires a more complicated mold than the embodiment first described. However, the cost of such a cap and safety strip remains relatively low. The appearance of the cap in the embodiment of FIG. 4, after removal of the strip 35 is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment shown on FIG. 2.

It will, of course, be appreciated that the embodiments hereinbefore described have been given purely by way of illustration and example and may be modified as to detail without thereby departing from the basic principles of the invention as described in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Display cap for mounting on a pressurized container equipped with a dispensing valve at its upper end, which valve has an outlet actuated by a pushbutton, said cap comprising means at its lower end for attaching it to said pressurized container and a transverse channel in its upper end, the median plane of which channel passes substantially through the axis of the cap, said channel having a width substantially equal to the width of a human finger and an orifice in its bottom for admitting the upper part of the push-button, said cap further comprising a sealing strip across the top of said channel, said sealing strip having a U-shaped section, with the two arms of the U substantially parallel to the width of the channel and attached to the sides of said channel at their upper ends by a weakened zone, the bottom of the U being adjacent the top of the pushbutton. I

2. Cap as claimed in claim 1 in which said channel is laterally defined by two walls parallel to the axis of the cap and to each other.

3. Cap as claimed in claim 1 in which the cap is externally defined by a lateral cylindrical surface.

4. Cap as claimed in claim 1 which is coaxial with said container when mounted thereon.

5. Cap as claimed in claim 4 in which the bottom of the channel in the cap is substantially perpendicular to the axis of the cap.

6. Cap as claimed in claim 1 in which the sealing strip has a length substantially equal to that of the channel.

7. Cap as claimed in claim 1 in which the weakened zone by which the sealing strip is attached to sides of the channel comprises lines of thin material adjacent the junction between the sealing strip and the sides of the channel or connecting pins which are spaced from each other and may be broken when the sealing strip is removed.

8. Cap as claimed in claim 3 in which the lower part of the lateral cylindrical surface of the cap carries a flange cooperating with a neck formed in the upper part of the lateral wall of the pressurized container.

9. In combination, a pressurized container and a dis play cap, said pressurized container comprising in its upper part a dispensing valve equipped with a pushbutton and a display cap as claimed in claim 1 encircling at least part of the push-button. 

1. Display cap for mounting on a pressurized container equipped with a dispensing valve at its upper end, which valve has an outlet actuated by a push-button, said cap comprising means at its lower end for attaching it to said pressurized container and a transverse channel in its upper end, the median plane of which channel passes substantially through the axis of the cap, said channel having a width substantially equal to the width of a human finger and an orifice in its bottom for admitting the upper part of the push-button, said cap further comprising a sealing strip across the top of said channel, said sealing strip having a U-shaped section, with the two arms of the U substantially parallel to the width of the channel and attached to the sides of said channel at their upper ends by a weakened zone, the bottom of the U being adjacent the top of the push-button.
 2. Cap as claimed in claim 1 in which said channel is laterally defined by two walls parallel to the axis of the cap and to each other.
 3. Cap as claimed in claim 1 in which the cap is externally defined by a lateral cylindrical surface.
 4. Cap as claimed in claim 1 which is coaxial with said container when mounted thereon.
 5. Cap as claimed in claim 4 in which the bottom of the channel in the cap is substantially perpendicular to the axis of the cap.
 6. Cap as claimed in claim 1 in which the sealing strip has a length substantially equal to that of the channel.
 7. Cap as claimed in claim 1 in which the weakened zone by which the sealing strip is attached to sides of the channel comprises lines of thin material adjacent the junction between the sealing strip and the sides of the channel or connecting pins which are spaced from each other and may be broken when the sealing strip is removed.
 8. Cap as claimed in claim 3 in which the lower part of the lateral cylindrical surface of the cap carries a flange cooperating with a neck formed in the upper part of the lateral wall of the pressurized container.
 9. In combination, a pressurized container and a display cap, said pressurized container comprising in its upper part a dispensing valve equipped with a push-button and a display cap as claimed in claim 1 encircling at least part of the push-button. 